


The Vacation Job

by dapatty, knight_tracer



Category: Leverage
Genre: Collaboration, Communication, Fluff and Angst, Multi, OT3, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapatty/pseuds/dapatty, https://archiveofourown.org/users/knight_tracer/pseuds/knight_tracer
Summary: After a close call on a job, the three of them try their best to take care of each other.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 15
Kudos: 92
Collections: Pod_Together 2020





	The Vacation Job

Podfic Length: 10:59

Download Link: [mp3](https://knight-tracer.parakaproductions.com/Podfic/The%20Vacation%20Job.mp3)

Parker frowned at a fancy six-pack “made from real sugar” orange soda. She didn’t know why she was even looking at it as Hardison claimed that the usual two liter bottles had a superior flavor. She grabbed a six pack of the fancy and three of the large plastic bottles and turned her attention to the rest of her list. 

Only a week out from a two-day con that went pear-shaped nearly from the start, Parker purposely took a breath and let it out. Told herself, _they made it, they were fine, Eliot only got clipped by a car._ That _it could have been so much worse._ One of them could have died.

But they didn’t. They were mostly whole and home and she had a list of groceries to buy. Then she’d go back home and make sure Eliot had his foot propped up and see if she could coax Hardison away from his computer.

When she looked back up, she met eyes with Eliot at the end of the aisle, mouth down-turned somewhere between a frown and a grimace as he pushed a cart her way. 

“You know it defeats the purpose of sending me with a list if you’re just going to show up any way,” Parker said, trying to give a pointed look but knowing it got stuck on concerned and impossibly fond. 

Of course, he wanted to come out anyway after being holed up in their apartment for a week nursing a sprained ankle and bruised ribs. She’s surprised he lasted that long, had been betting on him to be out and about after three days.

“Well,” Eliot said drawing the word out, a mix of _what can you do_ and _changed my mind about that roast._

Parker sat her basket into his shopping cart and fell into step beside him, giving him a soft poke in his ribs making him grunt.

“So,” Parker said with a final poke.

“So, chicken?” Eliot asked, turning them toward the meat counter.

“Only if you’re gonna cover it in bacon,” Parker said agreeably, picking up the thick cut uncured bacon she knew he’d want.

“And fingerling potatoes instead of rice,” Eliot decided.

“Because it’s Hardison’s favorite?” Parker asked, teasing.

“Because it’s Hardison’s favorite,” Eliot grumbled, fighting a smile. 

They wrapped up the shopping in good time and with minimal fuss. Parker had entertained thoughts of dragging him through the cereal aisle, but he had a fine sheen of sweat on his brow and leaned a little more on the cart. She could always have fun buying marshmallow cereal at his incredulous expense later, at least when he didn’t have a visible limp. 

“Do I need to go get the car? I promise to keep all four tires on the road and obey the laws of the road to get us back,” Parker swore and didn’t even cross her fingers. “Because I’m certain that you wouldn’t have walked ten blocks on an injury unless it was truly dire circumstances.”

“Just get us a lyft, Parker,” Eliot said, confirming her suspicions. 

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and pulled up the app on her phone as they made their way to the checkout. Snagging some impulse Reeses cups as they waited, she grabbed a pack of ibuprofen and a bottle of water. She’d bet her favorite climbing rig he’d forgone his next over the counter pain meds before heading out for his walk if the quiet hitch to his breathing was any indication. 

Their ride waited as they shuffled out onto the curb. She shooed him to the front seat as she grabbed their bags and took the cart back to the corral. Wordlessly sliding into the back and fastening her seatbelt as the car pulled out of the lot, she reached the bottle of water to Eliot and opened the painkillers, passing them over. 

He took both with a minimal amount of grumbling, and she smiled. He’d be okay if he could still grumble. Anything unbearable tended to be a silent suffering and quiet was a week ago on the flight back as she worried her cuticles and Hardison loudly complained about some sort of online game and too overpriced vacation spots to fill in the spaces where Eliot’s complaining would be. 

She opened the peanut butter cups and handed him one, said, “Good boy,” as he swallowed the pills and muttered, “Damnit Parker.” But he took the chocolate and took a bite as the driver accelerated onto the busy street.  
Back in their loft above the brew pub, she herded Eliot onto the sofa, propping his foot on the coffee table with a throw pillow underneath as he grumbled.

“If you tell me to ‘stay,’ Parker, I’ll—“

“Stay,” she said, smirking, letting her relief show that he was using his words and looked to be staying put. She flicked his forehead just because she could, letting her hand rest on the top of his head, cradling gently feeling the softness of his hair and warmth. She’d get him some ice.

“Are we roleplaying?” Hardison asked, sticking his head out of his gaming lair. “Because I don’t mind, but I thought we discussed that we weren’t kosher with being so spontaneous?”

“No games, just chicken,” Parker said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek to feel his smile as her lips touched his skin.

“And an ice pack for our resident worst patient,” Hardison said, following her into the kitchen and grabbing one from the freezer along with a bottle of water. He kissed her temple and went to see to Eliot. 

She heard him walk back over to the living area in front of the tvs as she set about washing her hands and prepping dinner. 

“Damnit Hardison,” Eliot muttered, trying for harsh but sounding so fond. She glanced up to see him fighting an exasperated smile as Hardison fluffed pillows and threatened him with a blanket. 

“When did you escape? I thought you were taking a nap.” Hardison said as he got a pillow for Eliot’s back and fussed about him. “We talked about being stealthy unnecessarily. I’d have drove, man.”

“It was fine,” Eliot protested. 

“Mmmhmmm,” Hardison hummed, pointedly. 

“Whatever, just reach the remote,” Eliot said, making grabby hands.

They lapsed into a friendly quiet as some action movie played at a low volume. Parker finished putting the bacon wrapped chicken on the potatoes and covered it with foil before putting it into the oven. She grabbed a nice bottle of orange soda for Hardison and water for herself and made her way over to her boys. 

“How do y’all feel about Hawaii?” Hardison asked, seemingly at random just as Parker 

“The beaches are fine, but too many tourists,” Eliot observed, trying to keep his bafflement off his face. “Why? How do you feel about Hawaii?”

“Sunny enough, but not nearly tall enough for my taste,” Parker said squinting at Hardison as he made a note on his tablet. 

“I hear you,” Hardison said, nodding at his screen. Parker caught a glimpse of a graph. 

“Oh,” Parker said, realizing that Hardison’s avoidance of both of them for the last week was not hiding from them for a bad feelings reason or a bad lost-in-work reason but because he was up to something possibly nice. 

“What?” Hardison said, looking nervous now that Parker and Eliot’s attention was on him. She shared a glance with Eliot and he nodded. 

“Out with it,” Eliot said. 

“It’s supposed to be a surprise,” Hardison protested. 

“You’ve asked up our opinions about Disneyland, the Ozarks, and High Tea in London,” Parker mused and realized. “You want us to take a vacation!”

“Oh,” Eliot said, looking resigned like all three of those things would be happening to him and he’d have to somehow deal with Hardison wanting to go to a theme park and then wanting to camp and then have to deal with a very specific decorum all in the span of a weekend. Or like he’d had a very distinctive experience involving one of those things already but would grin and bear it if one of them wanted to go.

“See that face right there is why I hadn’t said anything,” Hardison complained. “He’s already decided that somehow I’m gonna make him eat bad pizza for a whole week. Don’t play. I know you’re a foodie. There’s gonna be good food on this trip. You’ve got very distinctive standards.”

"I can eat whatever I have to in order to survive. One time I---"

"Yes we all remember that story. Point is, you don't WANNA eat bug brains or whatever. You want asparagus soup with creme fraiche and a few spicy little edible purple flowers, followed by a risotto topped with braised oxtail and oxtail-asparagus consomme to hearken back to the first course, because a real meal is a coherent experience."

"I... didn't think you were listenin' when I said that.” Eliot said sounding a little embarrassed with a side of touched. 

“Okay,” Parker said, reaching out for Hardison’s hands and giving them a squeeze, cutting off whatever tangent he was getting ready to go on. She was so grateful for her boys, but she thought they had all gotten better about using their words. 

Hardison squeezed back and Eliot rested his head against her shoulder as she leaned back into the couch still holding his hand. 

“So let’s actually plan together since we know what we’re all talking about now,” she suggested. 

“A break might do us some good, but there are whole parts of the globe we can’t go to,” Eliot said.

“Although I have taken the liberties of dealing with some of your more salacious warrants,” Hardison said, flipping his tablet around to reveal a chart, “I have all possible known nopes already listed.”

“Of course you do,” Parker grinned. 

“Nerd,” Eilot grumbled. 

Hardison beamed. 

It didn’t matter where they ended up because they’d be together. Whether they ended up finding a job or if it really did end up being a couple weeks where they played tourists, Parker couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: placeholder for squee when I have more than a braincell because Knight_Tracer remains a class act and deserves some hype.


End file.
